Internet rights activists and practitioners met
last night to celebrate the launch of the UK Internet Rights Website,
www.internetrights.org.uk

Phil Carr and Mike Mauritz - past and present
GreenNetters.

Coordinator of the UK Civil Society
Internet Rights project, Karen Banks introduced the project recalling
the event that sparked its origins. “When we received a legal
threat 5 years ago from Carter Ruck alleging that we were by-proxy
hosting defamatory and libelous content, we knew we had some tough
challenges ahead.”

Speaking at the launch, website author, Paul Mobbs said, “When
laws are passed that affect people access to water or electricity,
then thousands of people march together in the streets; but when
a government passes a law that enables it to read people’s
personal email, then there is silence.

Our rights of expression and association have been steadily
built up over the last 200 years. Today we have access to media and can
associate freely. But in 20 years, when many media outlets will be online,
as will many public services, will we enjoy these same rights of access
and expression? We need to work today to ensure that the rights we take
for granted in the real world are effectively transposed to the virtual
world. At the moment, they are not.”

Mobbs attributed this fact to the complexity and technicality
of the issues and the lack of easy-to-understand information that explains
to people how legislation governing the Internet has profound effects
on our daily lives.

The UK Civil Society Internet Rights project aims to
meet this need by providing a wide range of information resources that
will engage people in adding their voices to the important debates that
will govern the Information Society in the future.

Aimed particularly at civil society organisations who
wish to be actively involved in ICT policy development, the website contains
detailed briefings as well as concise fact sheets outlining some of the
major issues in Internet rights, including data retention, software patents,
online privacy and anti-terrorism legislation.

The site also contains practical toolkits for those
who wish to find out more about how encryption is used to protect a person’s
privacy online, how the Internet can be used as an effective tool in lobbying
and the rights of workers in the Information Society – amongst other
topics.

UKIR website project manager, Heather Ford, said “The
site was built around the idea that these are important issues that need
to be ‘made real’ and understandable for civil society organisations
so that they can actively engage in the policy making process. The latest
feature on data retention, for example, explains current proposals by
the UK government to retain communications data and maps out possible
implications of this for UK civil society and the general public.”

The UK Civil Society Internet Rights project is part
of a global initiative of the Association for Progressive Communications
(APC) to secure the Internet as a space for open debate and discussion.
Until recently, the social norms of Internet communities, together with
a very open architecture based on supporting these norms, regulated the
Internet, and was responsible for its openness. The main forces of regulation
now, however, are the business sector and government legislation. Corporations
and governments are pressing for fundamental changes in legislation and
in the architecture of the Internet. Unless challenged, these moves could
radically change the nature of the Internet, making it a place of oppressive
controls instead of freedom and openness.

In a letter from the APC, Executive Director, Anriette
Esterhuysen, stated, “The APC is proud to be associated with the
UK Internet Rights project.” She added that, “This project
is doing precisely what we believe is necessary if people are to secure
Internet rights in a sustainable way: fighting the battle at the local
level.”

This site promises to be a useful tool in our attempts
to recognise and articulate the right of every person to communicate by
making use of the vast opportunities afforded by the Internet and ICTs.

The UK Internet Rights Project was funded by the
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Paul Mobbs talks about his role as author of much
of the website's content.